Wish I'd bought 50 at a hunnat dollah a pop. I actually bought ten, cherry picked two for myself and flipped the others to pals at no profit to me.
The Simonov is actually a pretty good firearm. I have several Chinese, one factory, the others parts guns shooters, and they are all reliable and decently accurate, two really shoot well, nearly enough but not quite for PDs.
As for the two Soviets, I've left them unscoped and in factory shape with new rear sights on the action cover (spare generic) and some bedding to de-stress them a hair. I also took off the varnish (which was coming off anyway) and used modern poly finishes. One is a Stalin-year, the other Krushchev, which is a neat link to history. They'll score about 80-85 on the NRA target with an X or two.
For a hundred bucks or less, every one was a screaming deal and shoots fine. But 750? I don't think I'd buy one now. Bringbacks and Albanians are off the charts as are even the most hammered Yugos.
But it was great while it lasted, just like K-98s.
